Paperwork of a phoenix
by ventusleone
Summary: Vice-Admiral Marco was a respected marine, and together with his right hand man Izo, they were a force to be reckoned with. They just wants to relax on their day off after a long ordeal dealing with Kaido's men, when they sits down to drink in the same diner as a group of Whitebeard pirates. So much for a quiet evening. (Originally posted on AO3)


Vice-admiral Marco was a well-respected marine. He had been working his way up through the ranks for the past 4 years, and he had even been considered for the role of Admiral. However, he had made it clear that if the position was offered to him he would decline it without a second thought.

Fame and glory had never been Marco's goal. He was never that big a fan of "Justice" either. Keeping the civilians safe had always been his number one priority, and the position of Vice admiral left him enough freedom to work towards his personal goals while fulfilling his duty. Killing or arresting all pirates that crossed his path had never been his intention. Which was why he was currently so annoyed at the pirate crew that decided to restock their food-supply on the same island as Marco's crew.

To most marines a pirate was a pirate, and all pirates were dangerous criminals that should be arrested at any cost. But as Marco's crew had come to realise, the Vice-admiral would gladly let pirates pass him by if they caused no trouble for the marines or civilians on the island they restocked at. This lax attitude left a few of the higher-ups frustrated with Marco, but seeing his undeniable results when dealing with big pirates like Kaido, nobody raised any official complaints.

However, this crew of loud, obnoxious pirates was doing everything in their power to annoy the marine without actually breaking the law. And Marco, after a week of dealing with a persistent group of Kaido's Beast pirates, was so close to snapping that he could practically taste it. He rarely had a day out of his uniform, and sitting in the only diner on this side of the island, surrounded by drunk, unruly pirates was not how he wanted to spend his precious day.

Luckily for his sanity his second-in-command, Izo was there to share in his suffering. While the whole ordeal was nothing but unpleasant, it had almost been worth it to see one of the drunk pirates try to hit in Izo, under the assumption that the crossdresser had been a woman. The indignant look on Izo's face in combination with the true terror in the pirate's eyes had almost made Marco lose it. Almost.

When offended, Izo would turn into a force of nature that no sane man or woman would dare oppose. Luckily for the poor pirate, the food arrived just as Izo was about to tear into him, and with the brief distraction a few of his crewmates dragged the pirate away and rescued him from the lecture of a lifetime. Unluckily for Marco, the pirate's retreat left him as the only target for Izo's bad mood as the crossdresser decided against tracking the pirate down and arrest him.

The meal was nothing to complain about, but the only description Marco could come up with was bland, average at best. As the evening passed Marco grew accustomed to the noise of the pirates and would tune them out to keep his conversation with Izo going. Finally having a day off meant he could talk to Izo as a friend about anything, not as a commanding officer to a subordinate. It also meant that Izo could dress in the clothes he felt comfortable in, and not the official marine uniform.

But when Izo suddenly stopped talking in the middle of a sentence about the benefits of waterproof makeup while at sea, Marco realised he had severely underestimated the bravery and/or stupidity of these pirates.

"Err… I just figured I owed you an apology after the whole… hitting on you… thing…"

The pirate that had previously hit on Izo, and who Marco was now convinced had a death wish, was holding a bottle of Sake far more expensive than anything he could have gotten in this run-down diner while smiling apologetically.

"So… I ran back to the ship to fetch you a proper apology drink…"

As the pirate trailed off Marco noted that the noise level from the pirates was noticeably lower than it was earlier. Clearly the other pirates were just surprised as Marco at the actions of this pirate. Marco's attention was drawn back to Izo as he spoke.

"I can't finish that bottle on my own, and seeing as my friend here wouldn't know good sake if he drowned in it,"

Marco choked down a laugh as Izo gestured to him with his fork,

"You are going to help me drink it. Sit down."

The bewildered pirate was left with no choice as he was forced to take a seat next to Marco by Izo's steady grip on his arm.

Seeing that their crewmate was not in any immediate danger of getting castrated, the pirates seemed to get back to their own party. Now that Marco was paying attention to the man he tried to match his face with any recent bounties, however Marco was pretty sure that he would have remembered this face if he had ever seen it on a poster. A scar framed the man's left eye and a goatee framed his chin, but the most striking feature was the ridiculous brown hair made up in a pompadour.

"I'm Izo, this is my colleague, Marco. In addition to having no taste in alcohol he has no taste in fashion, or anything else for that matter."

Izo was pouring the sake for himself and the pirate as he spoke in a professional tone Marco had only ever hear him use on his superiors. Marco raised his half empty glass of cheap wine in a silent greeting to the pirate before he went back to his meal.

"I'm Thatch, and if he can eat the food here then he clearly has no taste in food either."

The well-intentioned grin that spread over Thatch's face was mirrored by a sharp smile on Izo's red lips as he spoke the words Marco already knew would bring him a lot of trouble in the future.

"I do believe we will get along just fine."

As the evening continued Thatch and Izo, much to Marco's dismay, got along like a house on fire. I't didn't take long before more pirates dared to brave Izo's forceful attitude. As one bottle of sake became two, then four, Marco quietly left the table to get some peace and quiet. He set his sight on a table in the corner, but before he could make it across the entire room he was interrupted by a tall man with an impressive moustache who was currently playing, and winning a game of poker against his crewmates.

"Don't worry. We can't handle Thatch for extended periods of time either. There is an open spot around the table if you want to join us instead."

Playing poker with pirates in a run-down diner was in no way how Marco had intended to spend his free evening, but somehow, he ended up clearing out the moustached pirate, Vista, and the rest of the pirates before buying them all a drink with the money he robbed them of.

As the sun fully disappeared and the moon climbed the horizon, the loud pirates grew progressively louder and more drunk as they partied like only pirates could. However, as Marco's devilfruit prevented him from getting drunk he was the first one to notice the presences approaching the diner. Setting down his cards, he ignored the glances from the pirates and got to his feet. So much for a quiet evening off duty.

"Izo."

The serious tone cut through the noise from the pirates and the small amount of conqueror's haki that blead through his voice made everyone in the diner fall quiet and turn towards him.

"Head back to the ship and fetch my coat. While you are there give the order to prepare for departure, I want her ready to sail within the hour."

All traces of drunkenness were gone from Izo as he had one of his trusty flintlock pistols ready and loaded in in his hand. Standing from the table he shared with Tatch, Izo let his eyes roam the diner for any potential threat.

"Sir? Are you sure…"

"That's an order!" Marco barked, interrupting Izo's question.

Izo did not flinch, but multiple pirates did as Marco's voice slipped back into Vice-Admiral mode. Izo knew better than to argue when he got an order and quickly grabbed his things and turned back to Thatch and quickly said "We are going to have to finish this some other time." Before swiftly and silently manoeuvring his way behind the bar and slipped out the back entrance.

"You should lie low for a bit."

The steely tone of Marco's voice left no room for discussions as he made his way to the front door.

"I'm about to get in trouble."

Vista frowned and reached for his sword as he looked like he was about to ask what was going on before he war rudely interrupted by a bellowing from the town square.

"Marco the Phoenix! Get out here!"

Bracing himself, Marco threw the door open and stalked out of the diner. The small group of pirates standing in the middle of the small town-square was the remains of the group of Beast-pirates that had been constantly attacking him for the last few weeks. Marco had been nice and hadn't arrested them yet, only sinking a few of their ships as an all-out war with Kaido was the last thing anyone wanted, but now the bastards were interrupting his off duty time.

"There you are! Thought you could escape us, did you?"

Marco was so done with these idiots. For weeks, different Kaido's underlings had been chasing him in order to "invite" him to join Kaido's crew. Marco would be flattered if it weren't for the fact that his devilfruit was the only reason Kaido had any interest in him. After politely declining their offer the first two or three times, the "invitation" turned into an attempted abduction and Marco had sunk their ship. That was three weeks ago, yet more pirates just kept coming.

"You are coming back to the captain whether you want it or not!"

Most of Kaido's men were Zoan-users, which was why Marco had started carrying a small pistol with seastone-bullets. After having to deal with one too many weird and unforeseen transformation Marco had come to the conclusion that stopping Kaido's men from using their animal abilities was the quickest way to secure a victory. There were 3 pirates waiting in the square, but he had only 2 seastone bullets. This would be easy. Even without the bullets the cold rage and pent up frustration coursing in Marco's veins would be more than enough to take these bastards down.

"I have told you multiple times I have no interest in meeting your god damn captain, so stop bothering me!"

As his patience finally snapped Marco was consumed by blue flames as he rushed at the pirates. Before any of them had a second to react Marco threw his bodyweight behind a kick that sent the pirate in the middle to the ground, knocked him unconscious as his head cracked against the stone. Spinning around, Marco shoot one of the seastone-bullets at the the pirate on his left, a grim smile spreading over the marine's face as his assumption about them being Zoan-users were proved correct. The seastone sapped the pirate of his energy and he crumbled to the ground.

The remaining pirate was quick to dodge out of the way of another one of Marco's powerful kicks as he began transforming into some kind of dog or wolf. Marco didn't care. As the pirate lunged at him with the jaw of a wolf Marco leaped straight up, and before the dumb creature realised what had happened Marco delivered a swift dive-kick to his head, knocking him out next to his unconscious crewmate and leaving a small crater in the ground.

"Holy shit man!"

The exclamation brought Marco's attention back to the diner where Thatch and Vista had stepped out. They were staring in awe at the fading blue flames around Marco. They had at some point armed themselves, probably expecting to have to defend the single man fighting three of Kaido's men. As if Marco couldn't handle them himself.

Reloading his pistol with the second Seastone bullet Marco turned to the pirate he had earlier shot. The man was covering on the ground trying to fish the bullet out of his shoulder in a feeble attempt to either fight or flee. Marco was debating whether to knock him out or let him escape and hopefully return to tell Kaido to leave Marco alone, when he heard the sounds of approaching marines.

"Vice-Admiral! Are you ok?"

"What happened?"

"Are those more of Kaido's men?"

"Get the seastone cuffs!"

As the marines swarmed the square and apprehended the pirates Izo slipped over to Marco and without a word handed him his coat. As Marco slipped it onto his shoulders he mourned the loss of his evening off-duty, as he was once again in uniform and in command. Shouting orders to his men, he quickly got the pirates securely restrained and escorted down to the ship. Without a second glance, he passed by the diner where he no longer sensed the presence of the pirates he had spent the evening with. They had been smart enough to leave as the battalion of marines showed up. While he was glad they left and didn't cause any trouble, Marco did feel a bit sad to see them go.

It had been a few days since they had apprehended the three Beast Pirates when a new batch of bounties dropped. The postal bird dropped them off on deck while Marco was working on his report of the recent confrontation with Kaido's crew, so Izo was the first one to look through the bundle.

"Oi Marco, look at this."

Raising his head from his report, Marco turned to Izo who was holding up two posters. Vista and Thatch were grinning back at him from two of the new posters.

"Looks like they were part of the Whitebeard crew. I wonder where their captain was."

"He was probably off either fighting against Roger or drinking with him. There are rapports of Roger causing trouble in the area."

Marco sighed as he was reminded of all the additional paperwork the Roger-pirates always brought with them. Sometimes he really envied the freedom pirates had not to do paperwork.

Marco's second encounter with the whitebeard pirates did not go as smoothly as the first one. While restocking on an island near the end of paradise a fight broke out between two crews of pirates, and as a frantic marine soldier reported to the base commander, Marco decided to take matter into his own hands to prevent civilian casualties and property damage.

It was that line of reasoning that lead to Marco landing in the middle of the town square in a blue blaze of glory, crushing a pirate under his talon as he threw out his flaming wings as a barrier between the two crews. In reality, the blue flames of a phoenix could do nothing but heal, but Marco was not going to tell the pirates that. Standing straight while flexing his wings as they turned back into arms Marco spoke.

"You are all under arrest for endangering civilians lives and destroying civilian property. Stand down and you won't be unnecessarily harmed."

His haki infused voice and the glowing blue flames in the evening sun made sure that Marco would remain the centre of attention while marines evacuated civilians and surrounded the square. However, as Marco finally turned his full attention to the pirates he had to fight back a frustrated sigh.

"Oi Marco! What the hell! They are the ones who started it!"

In front of Marco stood none other than Thatch, wielding two swords and looking legitimately offended that Marco had interrupted his fight. Releasing the now unconscious pirate from his talons, Marco hesitated for no more than a fraction of a second before releasing a swift kick on Thatch. However, that split second was enough time for the pirate to get his swords in front of himself to deflect the blow.

As Marco retracted his leg and prepared to release another kick, this time aiming to sweep the man of his feet, a broad, black-haired pirate covered in what looked like diamonds charged at him. Barely having time to throw himself out of the way, Marco saw marines barricading the possible escape routes of the distracted pirates. As Marco rolled into a crouch the man he assumed to be "Diamond" Jozu, a high-ranking member of the whitebeard pirates whose bounty had been steadily climbing for the past month shouted at his crew with a deafening voice.

"Fall back to the Moby Dick! The Vice-Admiral is a distraction! Don't let the Marines surround us!"

Hearing his orders, the majority of Whitebeard pirates started retreating towards the harbour. Marco used Jozu's momentary distraction of shouting orders to launch himself past the pirate, hoping to intercept the retreating pirates and give the marines enough time to fully barricade the Whitebeard Pirate's escape route.

Soaring past the pirates in the shape of a burning bird Marco aimed for the pirates in the very front and prepared to grasp them with his talons as the very air around him shook and something threw him to the ground with an unbelievable force. Hitting the ground at the speed and with the force Marco did would surely have knocked out, if not killed a normal man. Luckily his fruit healed him quickly, wrapping his body in blue flames as he tried to grasp what had hit him and get the world to stop spinning around him.

"You are still alive? No wonder my sons are having trouble with you."

When Marco finally managed to grasp what was going on he was lying flat on his back staring straight up at a giant of a man that could only be Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate, captain of the whitebeard pirates himself. Marco raced to get to his feet in front of the man who could no doubt kill a man with a single, well aimed strike with the bisento he carried. Even if Marco would not die from it, he knew from personal experience that decapitation was a painful experience, and he would do his best to avoid doing it again.

"Oi, you should stay down. You might be alive but that must have hurt you more..."

Before Whitebeard could finish his sentence, Marco aimed a powerful kick at his left leg, followed by a swift roundhouse kick to the chest, hopefully knocking the pirate captain off his feet. Whitebeard stumbled backwards a few steps, giving Marco the time he opening he needed to charge at the huge man with his talons ready to take him down. However, as Marco prepared to launch himself at the man he sensed the presence of the local marine commander in charge of the base behind his back. Seconds later a loud bang filled the air as a seastone bullet pierced Marco's left shoulder from behind and pain consumed Marcos mind.

"Marco!"

Izo's frantic shout filtered through the pain as Marco stumbled to his knees. Catching Whitebeard's concerned eyes, Marco let his own eyes fall shut against the pain. While getting shot hurt like hell, seastone bullets carried a pain nothing could compare to, and keeping a hold of his consciousness was all Marco could do as he heard Izo's panicked yelling get closer.

Marco was not sure if he was conscious or not as pain consumed him, but the next thing he was aware off was Izo ripping the bullet out of his shoulder and blue flames dulling the pain to a bearable level. He was lying on his back in the same street as he had been fighting Whitebeard, so he couldn't have lost that much time. However, when he tried to sit up he was met with a very angry Izo pushing him back down. At some point Izo's jacket had ended up folded under Marco's head.

"What in the seventh level of hell were you doing! A few inches to the right and he would be dead!"

Briefly Marco was confused as to what he had done wrong, but when his eyes followed Izo's death glare to the frightened Commander holding a seastone gun in shaking hands, the pieces started falling into places.

"I-I'm so sorry! I swear I wasn't aiming for him! I just thought that-"

"Thought what?! That it would be easier to fight Whitebeard with a bullet hole in his back?"

Sighing heavily Marco spoke up before Izo physically attacked the poor commander.

"Izo, he was trying to hit Newgate. I was the one who jumped into the path of the bullet. Leave him be."

Both Izo and the commander turned to look at Marco as he spoke softly from where he was lying on the ground in a pool of his own quickly drying blood. The shaking commander quickly bowed his head and started stammering an apology.

"V-vice-A-admiral M-Marco sir! I am s-so sorry! I never intended to hit you! I merely…"

As the man continued to apologise profusely, Marco pushed himself up into sitting position against Izo's protests and surveyed the area. The Whitebeard pirates were gone, but the remaining crew they had been brawling with was currently being escorted to the prisons back at the marine base. This entire evening had been one big disaster, but at least someone was arrested, so the higher ups could not complain too much.

"Are you alright Marco?"

Izo placed Marco's arm over his shoulders to keep him steady as he was lifted to his feet. No matter how much Marco despised being weak and leaning on others, he was happy he had someone to stabilise him as he swayed on his feet. No matter how many times it happened, the unpleasant energy from seastone inside his body left him shaking and unsteady for quite a while, even after the seastone was removed.

"I'll be fine. Let's just get back to the base and start writing the report. I assume the whitebeard pirates fled?"

"Yes, they did. The moment you entered the brawl they knew to run. It seems you have earned yourself a reputation Vice-admiral."

Sighing Marco removed himself from Izo's shoulder and began walking purposefully back towards the square where the battle had started. Surveying the collateral damage from the battle, Marco could only dread the paperwork. If he departed with his crew tomorrow morning the paperwork would hopefully fall to the base commander.

"Newgate was apparently buying a new logpose and some navigational equipment down at the market when the fight broke out between his crew and the Hammer pirates. Apparently, the hammer pirates decided to brag about slave-trading in the same bar as the whitebeard pirates were drinking and a brawl ensued. That is why Whitebeard came from an alleyway and caught you by surprise."

Izo was lounging in Marco's office as he read the rapport from the base commander out loud. After returning to base, Marco had ordered the ship to be ready for departure by sunrise before he had collapsed in a chair, so he had not been listening to the base commander at all. Feeling a smile creep up on his face Marco gazed out the window.

"I guess they are not too bad then. I believe we arrested the bigger threat." Watching a seagull soar freely in the sky, Marco let the smile drop from his face as he turned to look seriously at Izo.

"Do we know who the Hammer pirates were working with? If they were bragging it was most likely a recent deal."

Before Izo could answer there was a determined knock on the office door. Lewis, the poor marine in charge of communications and intel, was standing outside the door as Izo opened it. He was carrying a Transponder-Snail and looked as if he had just ran from the communication room to the office.

"Vice-Admiral Marco sir! There is a call from Fleet-Admiral Sengoku sir! He insists to talk to you personally."

Eyeing the Transponder-snail in Lewis's hand Marco extended his own hand and took it before dismissing the two others. As they left Marco prepared to start the conversation with a pleasant greeting, however he was cut off by Sengoku's sharp question:

"I heard you let Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate escape." Ok, so pleasantries were of the table.

"Sir. I did not let him escape, I tried my very hardest to apprehend him, however the stray seastone bullet from the base commander in my back was a bit distracting."

Marco's voice could still be considered pleasant, but the sharp sarcasm was obvious as he tried not to tell the Fleet-Commander where he could shove his seastone bullets.

"Don't take me for a fool Phoenix! I know you carry similar bullets! Taking Newgate out would be easy if you…"

Nope. Pleasantries and ranks be damned. Cutting off the head of the Marines as he was about to tell you what you should have done is not something any marine should do, but Marco had had it.

"If I had had the time and opportunity to get my gun and aim it at Whitebeard, I still would not have pulled the trigger, and do you want to know why? If I had shot and killed or even just injured Newgate, his entire crew would have turned on the marines. It would have led to an all-out war that would have decimated the town and killed countless civilians."

Marco could hear Sengoku try to speak but he gave the Fleet-Admiral no opening as he continued on.

"In addition to that, it would have made me and my men the primary enemy of his remaining crew. My men may be strong, but even we cannot handle direct attacks from both Whitebeard and Kaido at the same time. And in case you have forgotten, Kaido is still sending crews to "recruit" me every other week. Involving myself with the Whitebeard pirates more than I already have could create a motive for the two crews to either ally themselves or start a war, both things we want to avoid at all cost. So, do tell me, what was I supposed to do Fleet-Admiral Sengoku Sir?"

While the question was polite enough, the venomous tone was practically dripping with spite as Marco ended his rant. Deafening silence was the only thing in the room as Marco waited for a response. After about a minute of tense silence the snail spoke again.

"You handled the situation well Vice-Admiral. I want a written report within the next 24 hours."

The clank of Sengoku hanging up drained the fight from Marco and he fell back in the chair he had at some point risen from. If this god damn incident lead to another one of the most feared pirates on the sea hunting him he would quit. Sighing loudly, he called out:

"You can stop eavesdropping now. He hung up."

A sheepish Izo and a terrified Lewis gently opened the door to the office and entered looking like kids who got caught stealing cookies from the jar. As Lewis collected the Transponder snail and moved to leave, Marco had a genius idea.

"As punishment for eavesdropping on a superior's call, you two will be in charge of writhing up the report on the incident. You herd the Fleet-Admiral, have it done within 24 hours."

Leaning back in his chair and ignoring the two marines protests, Marco threw his legs onto his desk and decided to get a few hours sleep.

After the first confrontation with Captain Whitebeard, Marco had run into him and his crew multiple times. However, every single time Marco had arrived on the scene, it would be in the middle of a fight between the pirate and someone else. One memorable meeting was when Marco had stopped a direct clash between Whitebeard and Gol D. Roger. The resulting clashing Haki had knocked out most of the marines, and a good chunk of the pirates, but the civilians had been spared from the explosive force of the clash, so Marco still counted it as a win. However, the first time they met of a battlefield was oddly reminiscent of the first meeting between Tatch and Izo.

Marco had his first day off in the last 8 months, and like usual he had decided to leave the ship to get some peace and quiet. Sitting in a diner alongside Izo seemed oddly nostalgic as the crossdresser went through the bags of makeup he had gotten from the market earlier that day. Izo was never as happy as he was out of uniform and covered in makeup. It made Marco feel a bit guilty as the commanding officer that had to force the dress-code on his subordinates.

"…you even listening to me Marco?"

Snapping back to the present by Izo's question Marco realised he had been drifting in thought. He really needed this break.

"You were talking about that, err… eyeshadow?"

Izo's huff told him that he was not even close, but the soft smile that followed told him it didn't even matter to his second-in-command.

"I'll go get us some more wine. Try not to fall asleep while I am gone."

Izo slipped smoothly out from the between many tables and made his way to the counter. It was out of Marco's sight and in his almost asleep state, Marco did not recognise the presence of the whitebeard pirates as they entered the diner. Izo didn't notice either, busy inspecting the wine selection behind the counter. But Izo did notice the man that came up to him and threw a hand around his shoulder.

"How come a pretty lady like yourself are here all alone? How about I-"

In a split second multiple things happened: Izo drew his gun on instinct and only recognised the pirate after aiming at him. Thatch recognised Izo and took a step back realising he had made the same mistake as he did during their first meeting. Jozu saw a person draw a gun on his brother and threw himself between them, activating his ability to protect him. Edward Newgate himself prepared to take down the threat to his son, and Marco snapped awake more quickly than he had done his entire life.

"Izo put down the gun! We are on break so don't start a fight!"

The pirates' eyes all snapped to Marco as he sat by his table, surrounded by Izo's shopping. The few seconds of distraction Marco had caused gave Izo the time to gather his senses and put down the gun and start apologising to Thatch in his own "Izo" way.

"What the hell were you thinking! I would have shot anyone for laying hands on me you buffoon! If I hadn't recognised you I would have shot you! God damn I need a stronger drink than the juice they call "wine" in this town."

Izo's indignant rambling was directed directly at Thatch, as if there was not a wanted pirate covered in diamonds between them.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't recognise you and I made the same mistake as last time. I have more of the Sake from last time If you think it will help. I'm sorry please don't kill me!"

Thatch's frantic apology and mention of last time seemed to confuse the whitebeard pirates who had not been there during their last "diner get-together". So much for a quiet evening, Marco thought as he slumped over his table in exasperation.

"Damn straight it helps! How much do you have? I honestly think Marco needs it more than me. You know the drill. Get your ass over there and sit down, I'll get some cups."

Then, as if Edward Newgate, one of the strongest pirates in the world, was not standing right beside him, Izo turned back to the counter and called over one of the terrified bartenders and requested three cups for sake. Then he dodged around Jozu, grabbed Thatch by his arm, and dragged him over to Marco's table as the pirate told his crew not to worry.

Thatch and Izo immediately shared their sake and fell into a friendly conversation as Marco quietly sipped his cup of sake. A slightly terrified waitress approached the table and took their orders. The diner offered nothing fancy, but after weeks at sea, any semi-fresh vegetable tasted like heaven. As Thatch and Izo's conversation turned to new bounties and recent arrests, Marco tuned the pair out and let his mind drift to last week's capture.

Marco had been working tirelessly for 3 weeks to track down and apprehend a slave-trading ship that had been terrorising the locals. While slave-trading was technically not illegal under the world government these slavers had been pillaging villages, and Marco would take any and all excuses to apprehend scum like them. Six days ago, they had successfully caught up with them as they were collecting children from a small town near the calm belt. Marco had let his fury take full control, and once the battle was over only the captain and a handful of his men were left alive. The past five days had then been spent returning the children to their respective villages.

"Is there room for one more?"

Marco's mind came back to the diner as Edward Newgate joined the table and set down a large bottle of sake. Izo shot Marco a quick questioning gaze as if asking permission to dine with one of the most wanted pirates on the grand line. Squaring his shoulders and looking Whitebeard straight in the eyes Marco reached for his glass.

"You are paying my bill." Marco told him as he threw back his head and downed the remaining sake.

"You are also refilling my glass with the strongest alcohol you have. It's the least you can do after all the paperwork you have caused me."

As whitebeard let out one of his booming laughs Marco let his shoulders sink and a small smile creep onto his face. Surrounded by some of the most wanted pirates of the grand line, the vice-admiral felt truly at ease. And as the conversation flowed through subjects of no consequence Marco found that he enjoyed the company of Newgate. However, as the sun started to rise, Marco knew the companionship had come to an end.

"Izo. Morning routines start in an hour, we need to leave."

It really pained Marco to pull Izo back to the ship and away from his new friends. Thatch made Izo laugh and smile in a way Marco had never seen him do before. None of the sharp edges and cold eyes that Izo used when in uniform. Turning to leave, Marco paused and turned his head back towards Whitebeard.

"I hope you don't take this personally, but I am going to have to arrest you if I meet you in uniform."

"I would like to see you try son."

Turning his back on Whitebeard, Marco let a grin spread on his face and marched out into the sunrise. Izo was at his right side, but even as Marco's eyes never left the harbour to the east, he knew Izo was glancing back.


End file.
